2 Major Blazes Flare In Dade

May 8, 1986|United Press International

MIAMI — Firefighters from both ends of Dade County fought two major fires Wednesday -- one of them among the biggest in the area`s history -- resulting in heavy property damage but no serious injuries.

Preliminary damage estimates at American Foam Industries north of Miami ranged over $1 million from a six-alarm fire that burned through a manufacturing plant and warehouse for six hours. One firefighter was treated at a hospital for exhaustion and released.

It took firefighters an hour to put out a two-alarm blaze at the aging Oasis Cafe and Motel in Homestead, south of Miami, and no damage estimate was available. Two firefighters were treated and released for minor injuries.

There were fears that the burning foam in the five-alarm blaze in north Dade County would produce dangerous toxic fumes, but fire department spokeswoman Lynn Aspinall said ``we got lucky. The wind was coming 10 miles an hour out of the east going over uninhabited area.

``By morning it had dissipated and there wasn`t a problem,`` she said.